MANILA, Philippines - Won’t stop can’t stop, Davao City Mayor Rodrigo Duterte just arrived at the Commission on Elections today, December 8, to file for his Certificate of Candidacy (COC). Together with him is his vice presidential running mate Sen. Alan Peter Cayetano.

Pursuant to a COMELEC resolution, Duterte personally arrived at Intramuros this morning to file his COC as president. Photo credit: philstar.com

Duterte supporters holds vigil in Intramuros

Outside the Palacio del Gobernador, supporters of Duterte flocked around the area as early as last night as an evidence of their unwavering support for the presidential candidacy of the mayor. They pledged to remain there until December 10 (Thursday), the day that the COMELEC will announce its verdict on whether Duterte’s substitution over Martin Diño will be allowed.

Duterte arrived today to personally file a new COC as a presidential candidate to make sure that his camp will be able to comply with the necessary requirements as pursuant to the COMELEC Resolution No. 9984 requiring the physical appearance of a candidate to sworn before an authorized figure or notary public. It can be remembered that a representative already filed a COC for president on behalf of Duterte right after withdrawing his mayoralty candidacy for Davao city the same day. His daughter, Sara will run for the mayoralty post of Davao City, having done so in the past.

He can run of course, but will he be allowed?

Now that he is running, the question is will he be allowed to do so? On December 4, the COMELEC was on Duterte’s favor by disregarding a petition to declare Martin Diño, PDP-Laban’s original presidential bet, to be a nuisance candidate. By stabilizing the situation that Diño is a qualified contender, Duterte’s substitution can be a possibility. But that is only a part of the story, as Diño was allegedly filed a faulty COC which may prove to be a solid ground for his disqualification, and when that happens, a Duterte substitution for an already disqualified candidate will fade away.

Stay tuned for more updates on this story.

- Michael Santiago/TheSummitExpress

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